The Best of 2010

Happy 2011 my friends!

Well, I’m a day late and a dollar short for my 2010 “Best Of” post, but late is better than never, right?

I’d like to cram a whole lotta crap into one post, so sit back, kick your feet up, and get ready to be visually over-stimulated. Oh, and get your mouse ready because I’m throwing a whole bunch of links your way that you won’t want to miss!

I’ve spent many years wandering around this planet feeling like I didn’t have a passion. I love being a wife and a mother, but often I wondered if there was more out there for me. I just wasn’t completely fulfilled. I didn’t have an burning passion for anything in my life that was just mine. I had this emptiness for many years. I assumed it was depression.

Then on March 2, 2010, my life literally changed forever. After searching for a good 10 years for my passion, I found it. I created it. I downloaded WordPress and I posted my very first post at House of Hepworths. But let me back up a little and start in January of 2010…

In January I saw a beautiful book wreath at my sisters house. She told me she copied a tutorial from Living With Lindsay. I had no idea what that was. A blog? That posted about crafts and not just family updates? Seriously?

I looked up Lindsay’s blog and all of a sudden there was an entire world out there that I didn’t even know existed. How I could be so behind-the-times was beyond me. I mean, I was one of the first people to get a facebook profile when they finally opened it up to everyone, not just college students. I had MySpace when it was still cool. I Googled before anyone knew what Google was. But blogging about crafts? Wow. I had no clue.

From there I found Thrifty Decor Chick who quickly became my hero, my idol. The first blog that got my heart racing so quickly I knew I just HAD to be her. So I sat down and gathered up all the pictures I had from the house I had recently renovated. And I blogged. And by March 10th (8 days later), I had 569 unique visitors. I was hooked. I’d found my passion. I love to craft, I love to TALK, and I love being liked. And now I finally found a way to combine the three in the most narcissistic way possible. Blogging.

And then on April 4th (a month after my first post) the heavens parted and my idol, Thrifty Decor Chick herself, mentioned me and copied me in her Before & After Party. And I had 10,000 hits that week. And my love affair with her grew 10 fold.

And that my friends is my story. What a ride this year has been! I wrote 328 posts and received almost twelve THOUSAND comments. House of Hepworths received more than 750,000 page views and 345,000 visits. I owe it all to you guys. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for liking my crafts, encouraging me, sharing my blog with your friends, and sending me loads of super-sweet emails.

Here are the 10 posts that received the most comments (excluding giveaways). Click on the image to read the post.

Get the latest via email!

Comments

Happy New Year to you! And thank you for a great blog to read and for enabling me to buy a Silhouette!! I am loving it! I am starting out this year with a new toy and joined the blog world. Thanks again!

Wow! What a great post. Love all the links. And you have been a busy girl this year. I’ve seen some of these, but not all. I kinda dropped off the radar mid Sept. But am looking forward to catching up. Happy New Year!

Congrats on your awesome year, Allison! I’ve loved reading your blog since before I had my own. You’re always fun and I love that you still post about your own home and your own projects even though you’re quickly becoming one of the BIG blogs! I look forward to seeing more next year! er… I guess now, THIS year.

Wow you had some great projects this year! Isn’t blogging the best 😉 Enjoyed your recap and found you via Southern Hospitatlities link party. I’ve been blogging for three years and this is the first re-cap post that I’ve completed and it really makes you appreciate all that you accomplish in a year. Best wishes for the New Year. Fondly, Robertahttp://con-tain-it.typepad.com

Allison, Wow! You had a great successful beginning. I’m a slow poke at this end. You are the kind of person I’d love being friends with. I love to read your blog so I have it on my google front page with about 10 other blogs. The ones I put on Google Reader get lost. Shhhhh..don’t tell the other bloggers. lol